Guests from overseas drive hotel industry to new record
The Swiss hotel industry posted a record 41.8 million overnight stays in 2023. Demand was driven in particular by guests from Asia and America. Zurich, Bern and Geneva recorded the largest increases. Switzerland Tourism wants to steer demand more strongly.
The Swiss hotel industry has had a record year. The number of overnight stays increased by 9.2 per cent to 41.8 million, according to a statement from the Federal Statistical Office. This growth was solely due to demand from abroad.
Demand from Asia grew by 56.4 per cent to 4.1 million overnight stays. Overnight stays by Chinese guests increased by 314.2 per cent, demand from South Korea by 150.5 per cent and from India by 58.6 per cent.
Demand from America reached a new record of 4.0 million overnight stays, while demand from Europe grew by 9.0 per cent to 12.1 million overnight stays.
Domestic demand fell slightly by 1.1 per cent to 20.8 million overnight stays.
The city regions of Zurich, Bern and Geneva achieved the highest growth rates of 17.2, 14.1 and 19.8 per cent respectively. The region around Lucerne and Lake Lucerne as well as Valais and Vaud also recorded strong growth. Graubünden and Ticino recorded slight declines of 2.5 and 3.8 per cent respectively.
Foreign demand grew in all months of the year, even in the low season. The month of April even saw an increase of 40.6 per cent.
Switzerland Tourism (ST) wants to strengthen this trend. “We are bringing the right guests to the right destinations at the right time,” Director Martin Nydegger is quoted as saying in an ST press release. “Steering and promoting is the magic formula.” In particular, guests from overseas “we don’t want to further promote their numbers, but above all steer them, not only across the whole country, but also seasonally throughout the year”. In Europe, ST primarily wants to promote travelling by train.